Vanishing Species - Dropping Off Like Flies
In this wide world of vast variety and deep diversity where so many opposites attract and too many birds of the same feather repel (and often times repulse!), two absolutes remain consistently constant. Item Number One is not a case in point and seemingly has never changed, but is still important. Put simply, it is: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Item Number Two is a little more complicated but just as contradictory: the more special and indispensable a thing is, the less chance for its survival and being around for very long.
Superman is a good example of this. So are Bruce Lee, John Wayne, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope, to name only a few. At one time or another they all seemed invulnerable, invincible and too unique to ever vanish from our world. But evidently, not only are their kind each an vanishing species, but are now extinct.
Not so ants. In fact, as far back as 1999 scientists estimated that there are over one quadrillion (1 million billion) ants in the world–a number so gigantic that I’d rather ponder the inner workings of corporate America. And yet, every year whole species of ants and other insects are driven to extinction by rain forest destruction, which entomologists and other ant and termite lovers don’t find too appealing. What’s really sad are all the rare species of ants never even discovered that keep dropping off like flies (okay, perhaps flies was a bad choice of words!). Still, as vanishing species go, perhaps we shouldn’t be too upset over the demise of ants…or flies.
The damsel in distress is a far more endangered species and almost completely vanished from the human landscape. She is so scarce and few in number that I had to order a special DVD edition of Hitchcock’s 1940’s film “Rebecca” to locate her. Unfortunately, my order was confused with someone else’s and I was sent “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” instead–a movie wherein the damsel is about as distressed as I am over the demise of ants. Still, I persisted. And one day actually found myself opening a car door for an actual lady, and actually helping her carry groceries to her hotel suite. To this day I contend she was an actual damsel in distress (although she thought I was the valet, then ventured to tip me).
Equally endangered and probably even harder to locate is The Perfect Gentleman. The reason I was able to service the aforementioned damsel in distress is because no other member of the male species would. Tall men, short men, well dressed men and even good looking men, all just sauntered by without so much as a “Can I help you, Miss” concern. Well, their imperfection was my gain. At least until the grim gratuity was thrust into my hand!
And though I still do open doors for imaginary damsels in distress, I must confess that I am no one’s perfect gentleman. Just the other day (okay, it was last year and not the other day) an elderly lady was attempting to transverse a very deep, dank sidewalk curb during an unobliging downpour. Yes, I had my trusty rain-resistent overcoat on. And could have come to her rescue. But I was out for pretty, young damsels in distress. And wasn’t about to remove my twenty-four carat raincoat, drape it over the obstructing puddle, and catch my death of cold. Unless, as in past rescues, the gratuity had been offered in advance.
On a more serious note, I read recently that over the next 100 years one in eight of the world’s bird species are seriously endangered and have a risk of becoming extinct. Equally disturbing and potentially vanishing are hundreds and even thousands of other species sharing terra firma with us often unmindful humans. They include fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and insects (ants again) as well as plants, flowers, trees and shrubbery. Should all of us be alarmed? I would answered with a resounding YES!
The necessity and benefits of plants and animals are immense, and certainly essential to a healthy terra firma. And I’m not just talking about the Ozone Layer and the ever-debated Greenhouse Effect. Plants and animals of every category — singularly and in unison — provide tremendous agricultural, medicinal, ecological, recreational, aesthetical and commercial value to humanity. And every endangered species sorely needs protection so that future generations of humanity can enjoy and benefit from their intrinsic value.
Ecologically speaking, plant and animal species are what keep the Earth from spinning off its axis and becoming a dead, uninhabited moon. Our planet consists of ecosystems. And healthy ecosystems — which consist of primordial and remote forests, prairies, grasslands and coastal estuaries –are critical to humankind’s survival. They provide us with food, clean water and purified air. So every time another endangered species becomes vanishes, the whole lot of us become more endangered and closer to our own vanishing act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has estimated losing one plant species can trigger the loss of up to 30 other insect, plant and higher animal species. So when another Floridian coral reef, British countryside, or Brazilian rain forest erodes, is fragmatized or bull-dozed away, the loss of other crucial life forms are obliterated and Planet Earth draws a few steps more near its own obliteration.
Not even Superman will be able to save us if this should occur during our generation, or possibly the next. And other vanishing species, like honest politicians, environmentally-conscious capitalists, gallant scientists and enterprising industrialists, may all as well chuck their good intentions and noble endeavors, and head for the hills. Though where they and we might find hills of pasture and green, will be anyone’s guess.
On a lighter side, for me, I at least hope to find one bone fide damsel in distress to rescue and serve, before Mother Nature “Shakes out her rain-drenched hair” and relegates all of us to our own unwitting, expedient demise.
